I was going to run with CO2 also (as Josh did), but I've read that it can also freeze the Stans rendering the Stans useless. Plus it takes up space and weight.

It can cause the stans to ball up. The carts are noisy, and you'd probably need to take 4 in order to get two tubes to reasonable pressure.

Like you, I went with two tubes, a pump, patch kit, and two small bottles of stans. I also took a couple of tire boots, and curved needle w thread to help sew up any sidewall cuts.

What do you think of those fiberfix spokes?  I had to use one, it installed easily, and just for an experiment I rode two hundred miles on it over the course of several training days.  The wheel was still true when the bike shop got it.

Is that the spoke or is there enough redundancy in a 32-spoke wheel?

It definitely was some peace of mind. My wheels were 28 spoke. Even with a 32 spoke wheel, I'd rather replace the broken spoke with a fiber fix. The weight of gear combined with the extra punishment some of those sections hand out can be brutal.

I've been flip flopping between the race kings and maxxis icons...both with protection.   The both feel like the roll equally well.   The only downside with the race kings is that they are a bitch to get on tubeless.   Once on, they're good but...if you need to break a seal trailside, no way,  even with co2 to get it back on. 

Used the Conti Race Kings w protection last year with good results. Had to break one bead in Wyoming due to a spoke induced flat. Put a tube in the tire, replaced the broken spoke with a fiber fix spoke and rolled that set up into Steamboat with no issues. Replaced the rear tire there since I didn't think it would last and had the shop set it up tubeless. Still running the same tires.

I used EPDM on a roof a few years back and had a lot left over. So I made some tongue shaped straps with 1/2" holes in them. They wrap into the bottle holders and then slip over the top of the bottles. Even with all of the rough downhills that I've done, no bottles have come out. I will post pics in the DIY section.

I had good luck with the Topeak Java cages this year. No straps and my 1L bottles stayed in place the entire race. Nice thing is that they can be expanded to hold different shaped bottles if necessary.

I used the MSR Dromlite bags, 2 L.  Durable, fits in frame bag or an anything bag. http://www.cascadedesigns.com/msr/water/storage/dromlite-bags/product

Ditto, but I use the 2L vs the 3L.

TP: Most are also carrying baby wipes to keep everything clean and for a pre sleep wipe down. I'm planning on a small zip lock of baby wipes and another of TP/napkins. As Flinch said, no more than two days worth and top up as I go.

I took wet wipes and some TP. Dug catholes, covered, and then put the wipes/TP in a thick freezer bag until the next town where I could toss them.

Well, the Cutthroat is relatively new so not a lot of people have much experience with it. They've only started shipping in the last month or so. I just took delivery of mine this week. It's really damn light. While it would look a bit weird, I'm already contemplating seeing how it rides with a set of 28c tubeless road tires on it. Seems like it would be a capable road rig set up that way. The Cutthroat can mount a rear rack, and along with a pair of Anything Cages, would give you some extra cargo capacity.

Newbie here.  Just a question of hydration, in particular, where do you all carry your water.  I see lots of H2O bottles and then I also see lots of hydration backpacks.  Pros and cons of each?

Last year, I used 3L bladder in my frame bag and two 1L bottles on my fork. I had another 3L bladder squirreled away in my seat bag in case I needed more water, but I never used it. Biggest thing for me was keeping weight off of my back (and thus putting more weight on MY seat).

What's up with everyone appearing to be off route?

Same question that I had. It was almost everyone that skipped a huge portion of the route. Chatter was a bunch of storms whipped up out there, but not sure if that was related or not.

Laundromats: How do the laundromats work - are they coin fed or does some machine takes notes and convert them to tokens? And the powder is in some other coin operated machine?

I sink/shower washed my clothes in a hotel sink or trash can many times. I rolled them up in towels to get most of the water out and they were dry by morning.

Perfect!  Thanks a million.

Dave already pointed you to my site. Happy to answer any other Q's. Medical was actually $400 more expensive than shown. I got the bill for my med stop in Steamboat after I added everything up. High deductible health plan and out of network provider. :/

I have one as well. I like using it during shoulder seasons more than anything. My biggest complaint is that I'd like some venting at the foot to allow slightly better airflow. Condensation can be a problem (as others have said), but I think that's true of most bivys.

I think I may have touched on this subject before. But to the people who have ridden the route in the past. What kind of temps did you encounter at night? At what point along the route does the temperature really warm up? Say 45 degrees and warmer at night.

I used a 25F quilt in 2015. There were a couple of nights that it was nice to have, but I could have made due with a lighter rating and supplemented with other clothes I had with me. By the time I figured out that I wanted something in the 32 - 40F range, it was too late to order something before the GD. I recall the night I spent on Lynx Pass Campground just south of Steamboat as being fairly cold (especially in the AM). We did have unusually nice weather this past year though.

Usuals are who you are and a short bit on why you're doing the race. Most races don't have people send anything like that in, though.

I took a Garmin 800 with me last year and used the smaller 10,000 point track on it. The route loaded quicker with the smaller track. I had no issues finding my way along the route with the 10,000 point track. Etrex and Dakota units work well and can be powered by regular batteries.

After finishing I bookmarked that.  I found the sleep patterns of all of us very interesting.  Page 63 from the 2015 TD race forum.  I don't seem to be able to get the link to work anymore though.

Josh,

Thanks for the reply. I wasn't crazy then. I found the data very useful as well

Got in contact with Tom Chen via a FB group. I'm working on reviving this thing.

Steve

Sometime during or after the 2015 TD, someone posted a link to a web site that pulled in everyone's ride data and estimated their moving and stopped times for the day. Does anyone have that link or remember where it was at? I've been through quite a few of the posts in the TD Race thread but couldn't find it.

Thanks

Maybe a little background here would help.  I am re-reading Scott Thigpen's book where he keeps leapfrogging "the kids" as he calls them all the way to the end of the race.  It sounds as though Scott rides slower, but longer each day.  This got me wondering how time off the bike during the day compares between people that ride fast, but fewer hours compares with people who ride longer hours?  Are the absolute numbers for hours stopped similar between racers or might there be a bit more correlation in the time spent stopped as a percent of total time start to end in the day?

Someone had web page that took all of those numbers from Trackleaders and made a really nice graph out of it. I'll see if I can track it down. I can say that  I was trying to get a good solid 6 hours of sleep each night. I seemed to perform better with the extra sleep  and I was still able to hit my sub 25 day goal doing so.

... Chris Plesko and Joe Fox are also going to be two to watch this year also. Joe had an awesome rookie ride in 2015 and I think he'll do something big in 2016.

Joe is tenacious and can do anything he puts his mind to. Looking forward to following his blue dot this year.

Shifters are going to depend on your bars. There are shifters for both drop bars and for regular bars.